The Day Today is a
surrealSurrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
British
parodyA parody , in contemporary usage, is a work created to mock, comment on, or poke fun at an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of television news programmes. It is an adaptation of the radio programme
On the HourOn the Hour was a British radio programme that parodied current affairs broadcasting, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 1991 and 1992.Written by Chris Morris, Patrick Marber, Eric Weinstein, Armando Iannucci, Steven Wells, Andrew Glover, Stewart Lee, Richard Herring and David Quantick, it starred...
. The series is composed of six half-hour episodes and a selection of shorter, five-minute slots recorded as promotion trailers for the longer segments. Only six episodes were made, and were originally broadcast in January and February 1994 on
BBC2
.
The Day Today won many awards and
Chris MorrisImage:the_it_crowd_denholm.jpg|Chris Morris in The IT CrowdChristopher Morris is an English comedian, writer, director, actor and former radio DJ.Morris began his career in radio before moving into television...
won the 1994 British Comedy Award for Best Newcomer. All six episodes are available on
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
DVDDVD, also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc,is an optical disc storage media format, and was founded in 1995. Its main uses are video and data storage...
, having previously been issued on
VHSVideo Home System, better known by its abbreviation VHS, was a video tape recording standard developed during the 1970s. It was released to the public during the latter half of the decade. During the late part of the 1970s and the early 1980s it formed one-half of the VHS vs Betamax war, which it...
.
Programme format
Each episode is presented as a mock news programme, and the episodes rely on a combination of ludicrous fictitious news stories, covered with a serious, pseudo-professional attitude. Each episode revolves around one or two major stories, which are pursued throughout the programme, along with a host of other stories usually only briefly referred to. In addition, the programme dips into other channels from time to time, presents clips of (fictitious) upcoming
BBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation, usually referred to by its abbreviation as the "BBC", is the longest established and largest broadcaster in the world...
programmes, and conducts street interviews with members of the public, in a segment named
"Speak Your Brains".
The programme frequently commented on other programmes, most often a spoof
soap operaA soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The name "soap opera" stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble,...
called
The Bureau, set in a 24-hour
Bureau de ChangeA bureau de change or currency exchange is a business whose customers exchange one currency for another...
, incorporating clichéd soap opera-style plots, which apparently produces and airs 2,000 episodes between the first and third segments of
The Day Today and becomes a hit in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
. The programme also contained clips from a spoof
documentaryDocumentary film is a broad category of visual expressions that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality. Although "documentary film" originally referred to movies shot on film stock, it has subsequently expanded to include video and digital productions that can...
series called "The Pool", featuring a public
swimming poolA swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is an artificially enclosed body of water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest and deepest is the Olympic size...
and its neurotic staff. Morris says that the general British public probably consider public buildings 'a load of old rubbish', so the Day Today had funded a documentary on every one in the country. The final episode featured reports on the fictitious documentary "The Office", which followed at office workers as they went on a retreat with an efficiency expert, a segment which predated the 2001 comedy series
The OfficeThe Office is a British television comedy that first aired in the UK on BBC Two on 9 July 2001.Created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the programme is about day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough, Berkshire branch of the fictitious Wernham Hogg Paper Company...
by seven years. Other non-news segments of the programme included the occasional "physical cartoons" of
current events set in the studio. Chris Morris frequently parodied entirely separate channels, including "Rok TV" (spoofing
MTVMTV is a cable television network based in New York City and launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs...
); reporting on the fictitious and psychotically violent African-American rapper "Fur-Q"; and "Genutainment", a segment which reported on a sheepdog averting a
helicopterA helicopter is an aircraft that is lifted and propelled by one or more horizontal rotors, each rotor consisting of two or more rotor blades. Helicopters are classified as rotorcraft or rotary-wing aircraft to distinguish them from fixed-wing aircraft because the helicopter achieves lift with the...
disaster (a parody of the real-life rescue show 999).
The programme occasionally featured producer
Armando IannucciArmando Giovanni Iannucci is a Scottish comedian, writer, director, performer and radio producer.- Early life :...
and writer
Peter BaynhamPeter Baynham is an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and a British comedian, writer, and performer. He often collaborates with Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris and has worked with Stewart Lee and Richard Herring. He is first heard on Morris' early radio DJ slots, often going out to places...
, the latter most notably playing Gay Desk reporter, Colin Poppshed. John Thomson,
Graham LinehanGraham Linehan is an Irish television writer, actor and director who, often in partnership with Arthur Mathews, has written or co-written a number of popular television comedies...
, Tony Haase and
Minnie DriverMinnie Driver is an English actress and singer-songwriter. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting.-Early life:...
also appear. Michael Alexander St John provided the voiceover stings.
Much of the programme's humour was derived from its excessively brash style of reporting and its unnecessarily complex format. The opening sequence of each episode is lengthy and complicated, a parody of the overuse of computer-generated credit sequences on news programmes. One episode presented false adverts featuring depictions of The Day Today being broadcast in bizarre locations; the night sky over
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, the sides of the Great Pyramid in
CairoCairo is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab World. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a center of the region's political and cultural life...
, the International Hackenbacker Building in
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
, and the handles of 400 million
petrol pumps across the globe; this was a parody of
CNN InternationalCNN International , usually known on-air as simply "CNN" to viewers outside the United States and Canada, is an English language television network that carries news, current affairs and business programming worldwide...
's promotions advertising the hotels in which the channel could be seen. Morris himself provided much humour from his aggressive personality, often arguing with reporters and guests on-air and at one stage provoking a war between
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
and
Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
solely to give himself something to report on.
The programme frequently lambasted
ConservativeThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
politicians in office at the time of the programme's production. Statesmen repeatedly lampooned by the series include
John MajorSir John Major, KG, CH, ACIB , is a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and former Leader of the Conservative Party. He held these posts from 1990 to 1997....
,
Michael HeseltineMichael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group....
(who had his picture swapped with a Bosnian old woman),
Chris PattenChristopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, CH, PC is a prominent British Conservative politician and a Patron of the Tory Reform Group....
,
Douglas HurdDouglas Richard Hurd, Baron Hurd of Westwell, CH, CBE, PC , is a senior British Conservative politician and novelist, who served in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major between 1979 and his retirement in 1995...
,
Virginia BottomleyVirginia Hilda Brunette Maxwell Bottomley, Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone PC DL, née Virginia Garnett , is a British Conservative Party politician. She was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons from 1984 to 2005...
,
Michael PortilloMichael Denzil Xavier Portillo is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party politician and Cabinet Minister...
, and former American President
Bill ClintonWilliam Jefferson "Bill" Clinton was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the third-youngest president; only Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy were younger when entering office...
.
Each episode was brought to an interrupted ending with just enough time to quickly overview the following day's newspapers just printed with absurd headlines such as Lord Mayor's pirhouette in fire chief wife decapitation, and a final conclusive humorously misused video. Each episode ended in a familiar style for news reports, with the camera panning out as the studio lights dimmed on Morris. However, instead of shuffling his papers in a clichéd newsreader style, Morris would take advantage of the dimming lights to perform bizarre activities; putting lots of pens in his jacket pockets, placing a tourniquet around his arm in preparation to inject heroin, removing his normal hair to reveal long blonde locks underneath and in the last episode lying face down on the studio floor, in the shape of a cross as if to pray to his idol, the newsdesk.
Notable coverage
The "news" which features on the programme is often irrelevant and always ridiculous in the extreme. Notable segments include:
- Reports that explosive-packed terrorist dog
The dog is a domesticated form of the Gray Wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The domestic dog has been one of the most widely kept working and companion animals in human history...
s were being released in London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
by the IRAThe Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation which sought to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
. These mechanical "bomb dogs" wreak havoc, and prompt the British police to begin executing any dog on sight. This story is accompanied by a clip of Steve CooganStephen John "Steve" Coogan is an English comedian, actor, writer and producer. His best known character in the United Kingdom is Alan Partridge, the grotesque sports reporter-turned-television chat show host-turned-regional radio presenter who featured in several television series, such as The...
impersonating a Gerry AdamsGerard "Gerry" Adams, MLA, MP is an Irish Republican politician and abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West...
-esque Sinn FéinSinn Féin is a political party in Ireland. The current party, led by Gerry Adams, was formed following a split in January 1970 and traces its origins back to the original Sinn Féin party formed in 1905. It is a major party of Irish republicanism and its political ideology is left wing...
leader, spouting rhetoric while inhaling heliumHelium is the chemical element with atomic number 2, and is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
to detract credibility from his statement - this was a satirical comment on broadcaster's responses to the law at the time, which prevented any Sinn Féin spokesperson from being heard in radio and television - their words would instead be dubbed by an actor speaking in a neutral tone of voice.
- Coverage of a long-running feud between John Major
Sir John Major, KG, CH, ACIB , is a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and former Leader of the Conservative Party. He held these posts from 1990 to 1997....
and the QueenElizabeth II is the queen regnant of sixteen independent states known informally as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,...
. The feud culminates in physical fighting between the two in Buckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
, videoed by a secret reporter who comments on "loud swearing voices", "the sounds of bodies falling against furniture", and the "Prime Minister leaving with bleeding legs". Early coverage of the incident worsens the situation, and prompts Morris' character to air a propagandaPropaganda is communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience...
reel reserved for national emergenciesA state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend certain normal functions of government, alert citizens to alter their normal behaviors, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale for suspending civil liberties...
; film consisting of a sequence of bizarre scenarios set against a backdrop of patriotic British music, in a baffling effort to boost British national solidarity. The feud ultimately ends with the Queen and her entourage marching on Downing StreetDowning Street is the street in London, England, which for over two hundred years has contained the official residences of two of the most senior British cabinet ministers: the First Lord of the Treasury, an office held by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the Second Lord of the...
to beat up John MajorSir John Major, KG, CH, ACIB , is a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and former Leader of the Conservative Party. He held these posts from 1990 to 1997....
, and after the close of the incident, the Royal MailRoyal Mail is the national postal service of the United Kingdom. Royal Mail Holdings plc owns Royal Mail Group Limited, which in turn operates the brands Royal Mail , Parcelforce Worldwide and General Logistics Systems...
issues a commemorative stampA commemorative stamp is a postage stamp issued to honor or commemorate a place, event or person. Most postal services of the world issue several of these each year, often holding first day of issue ceremonies at locations connected with the subjects...
featuring the Queen and John Major kissing.
- Coverage of an ongoing rail crisis, following a train trapped on the tracks in Hampshire
Hampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a county on the south coast of England. The county borders , Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
. Trapped by a jammed signal post, the stranded train rapidly becomes the scene of anarchyAnarchy may refer to any of the following:* "No rulership or enforced authority." * "Absence of government; a state of lawlessness due to the absence or inefficiency of the supreme power; political disorder."...
and paganismPaganism is a word with several different meanings.In its broadest definition, pagan denotes all non-Abrahamic religions, that is to say it denotes all religions other than Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.Other usages are:*Paganism may mean Polytheism: The group so defined includes most of the...
, its passengers reverting to an animalistic state.
- In the fifth episode, Morris provokes a war
War is a reciprocated, armed conflict, between two or more non-congruous entities, aimed at reorganising a subjectively designed, geo-politically desired result...
between Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
and AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
so that he can report on it, and much of the episode revolves around the resulting conflict. Subsequent reports of the war, delivered from "Eastmanstown in the Upper Cataracts on the Australio-Hong-Kong border", are humorously blown out of proportion. At the end of the episode, a false advertisement features a three-tape VHSVideo Home System, better known by its abbreviation VHS, was a video tape recording standard developed during the 1970s. It was released to the public during the latter half of the decade. During the late part of the 1970s and the early 1980s it formed one-half of the VHS vs Betamax war, which it...
set of the war produced by The Day Today, featuring footage of the war and its origins, set against a wholly inappropriate backdrop of pop musicPop music is a music genre that developed from the mid-1950s as a softer alternative to rock 'n' roll and later to rock music. It has a focus on commercial recording, often orientated towards a youth market, usually through the medium of relatively short and simple love songs...
, a parody of tabloid television's tendency to "dumb down" stories and present serious events in an inappropriate light-hearted manner.
Other bizarre stories included a report of two
FrenchFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
boys who break into the
Roman Catholic ChurchThe Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Latin Rite Church, and...
's computer databanks in order to change the Catholic
catechismA catechism is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
; an urgent report that the British pound had been stolen; reports of wild horses disrupting the
London UndergroundThe London Underground, Underground or Tube is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire in the UK. The first section opened in 1863, and was the first underground railway system in the world, and, starting in...
; and reports that
CreteCrete is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km²...
had been kidnapped by
LibyaLibya , officially the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya , is a country located in North Africa...
and that
Japanis an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
had manufactured sixteen identical Japans. Many of these reports are accompanied by The Day Todays News Dancer, who performs an energetic
danceDance is a sport and art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
to relay news stories.
Main characters
- Chris Morris (Chris Morris
Image:the_it_crowd_denholm.jpg|Chris Morris in The IT CrowdChristopher Morris is an English comedian, writer, director, actor and former radio DJ.Morris began his career in radio before moving into television...
) - The newsreader. Chris is a professional, and knows what he is talking about. His vast desk has several computers giving him the news instantly from around the world, leading to Chris' habit of interrupting other segments in order to break in with more important stories. He is always confrontational and extremely aggressive, frequently picking fights with his staff and guests while on-air, and his efforts to resolve problems (such as airing the BBC's emergency all-purpose propaganda filmA propaganda film is a film, either a documentary-style production or a fictional screenplay, that is produced to convince the viewer of a certain political point or influence the opinions or behavior of people, often by providing deliberately misleading, propagandistic content.-History:The...
) frequently make bad situations even worse. Morris' unnecessarily aggressive personality often causes tensions between him and his staff, and is even responsible for triggering a warWar is a reciprocated, armed conflict, between two or more non-congruous entities, aimed at reorganising a subjectively designed, geo-politically desired result...
between AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
and Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
. His mannerisms — and, particularly, his physical appearance in the pilot episodeA television pilot is a test episode of an intended television series. It is an early step in the development of a television series, much like pilot lights or pilot studies serve as precursors to the start of larger activity, or pilot holes prepare the way for larger holes. Networks use pilots to...
— suggests that his character is at least loosely based on that of Jeremy PaxmanJeremy Dickson Paxman is a British journalist, author and television presenter. He has worked for the BBC since 1977. He is noted for a forthright and abrasive interviewing style...
, and there are echoes of Michael BuerkMichael Duncan Buerk is a BBC journalist and newsreader, most famous for his reporting of the Ethiopian famine on 23 October 1984, which inspired the Band Aid charity record.-Personal life:...
's style of delivery.
- Collaterlie Sisters (alternative spelling: "Collately Sisters") (Doon Mackichan
Doon Mackichan is an English comedienne and actress.-Biography:Aged 9, she moved with her family to Upper Largo, Fife...
) - Business correspondent. As a satirisation of the incomprehensible and essentially bizarre nature of business news to the everyman, Collaterlie talks complete nonsense about the world of business, including FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
and ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
swapping currencies, and SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
withdrawing from world markets in order to trade with itself. In addition, Collaterlie has a habit of padding out her reports with fast-paced and utterly impenetrable nonsensical jargonJargon is terminology which is especially defined in relationship to a specific activity, profession, or group. In other words, the term most often covers the language used by people who work in a particular area or who have a common interest...
( "Trading remained succulent for the rest of the day".) She uses bewildering graphics to get her points across, mainly when addressing the currency marketThe foreign exchange market trades currencies. It lets banks and other institutions easily buy and sell currencies....
, using such aids as the "Currency Cat" and the "Currency Kidney", whose appearance further confuses viewers. During her reports, a news ticker scrolls across the bottom, displaying meaningless symbols, often containing lots of foursYear 4 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.-Roman Empire:* Emperor Caesar Augustus summons Tiberius to Rome, and names him his heir and future emperor...
. For unknown reasons, Chris Morris's character despises Collaterlie, and Chris makes no effort to conceal his intense dislike of her while on-air: "Take her off the monitor, I don't want to see her face!" After one of her reports, he uses a remote control to switch her off and she puts her head on her desk.
- Sylvester Stuart (David Schneider
David Schneider is an English actor and comedian.Schneider studied modern languages at the University of Oxford, and studied for a DPhil in Yiddish Drama. During his time at university, Schneider performed a predominantly physical comedy act that contrasted with the trend towards stand-up comedy...
) - The weatherman. The only part of Sylvester we see is his head, which usually floats on a graphic background. He never describes the weather forecast straightforwardly, instead using confusing metaphors such as "That's about as warm as going into a heated drawing room after chopping some wood" and describing gloomy weather as "a bit like waking up next to a corpse". Notable weather reports have included the "Metball", a pinballPinball is a type of arcade game, usually coin-operated, where a player attempts to score points by manipulating one or more metal balls on a playfield inside a glass-covered case called a pinball machine. The primary objective of the game is to score as many points as possible...
-style graphic of the British Isles with Stuart's face as the ball, and another featuring the "Weather Collar"; Stuart wearing a vast iron collar with the British Isles painted on it, rotating his head to face different areas of the country. Sylvester's weather reports are often presented at inappropriate moments, and always end with Sylvester smiling insincerely while remarking "And that's all the weather". His name is almost certainly taken from the real name of Sly StoneSly Stone is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most famous for his role as frontman for Sly & the Family Stone, a band which played a critical role in the development of soul, funk and psychedelia in the 1960s and 1970s...
, of whom Chris Morris was a big fan, playing Sly's music regularly on his radio programme.
- Barbara Wintergreen (Rebecca Front
Rebecca Front is an English comedienne and actress, perhaps best known for her performances in a series of critically-acclaimed satirical comedies in the early 1990s: On The Hour, The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You...with Alan Partridge...
) - Correspondent on The Day Today's American sister channel CBN. Speaking with an exaggerated American accent, Barbara presents reports on very strange stories, all but one of them concerning the repeated executions of mass murderer Chapman Baxter (Patrick MarberPatrick Albert Crispin Marber is an English comedian, playwright, director, actor and screenwriter.-Early years:Marber was born in London, England, the son of a financial analyst, and was raised in Wimbledon...
) at various penitentiaries across the United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Her reports are always extremely dark in humour, and revolve around her constant use of very poor, convoluted punA pun, or paronomasia, is a form of word play that deliberately exploits ambiguity between similar-sounding words for humorous or rhetorical effect...
s in the execution chamber, and interviews with stereotypical stock characterA stock character is a stereotype. Stock characters rely heavily on cultural types or names for their personality, manner of speech, and other characteristics. In their most general form, stock characters are related to literary archetypes, but they are often more narrowly defined...
s in American culture. Her disturbing reports always end with Barbara attempting a joke, drowned out by Chapman Baxter's execution screams. Her reports are presented in a noticeably different format to other reports shown in the episodes; her segments are filmed using different lenses and different shot sequences, accurately mimicking the appearance of American media aired on British television channels (conversion problems causing the picture to be discoloured and blurred), while the content of her reports satirises common British perceptions of the American media.
- Peter O'Hanraha-hanrahan (Patrick Marber
Patrick Albert Crispin Marber is an English comedian, playwright, director, actor and screenwriter.-Early years:Marber was born in London, England, the son of a financial analyst, and was raised in Wimbledon...
) - Economic correspondent. Of all the characters, Peter is by far the most incompetent; while Alan Partridge can usually extricate himself using sheer bluff, Peter has no such skill, and his reports see him digging himself deeper into the mire. He is constantly making mistakes, and always incurs Chris's extreme displeasure. Notable reports from Peter include a claim that an American factory with only 25,000 workers had made 35,000 redundant; a failed effort to conduct a light-hearted interview with a shipping ministerA minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet.-Origin:...
; and a report in which Peter claims to have conducted an interview with the GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
economics minister in the German languageGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
, despite it being obvious that Peter cannot speak a word of German. Peter's attempts to back out of his errors always incurs Morris' wrath. Peter appears to have a habit of doodling on his notes (specifically, a cobweb), a constant irk to Chris Morris. Peter resembles former BBC newsreader Richard WhitmoreRichard Whitmore is a broadcaster, writer and actor.-Early life:He was educated at the former Hitchin Grammar School. He did not go to university.-Career:...
; his name is clearly inspired by Brian HanrahanBrian Hanrahan was the Diplomatic Editor for BBC News and a well known correspondent. Recently, he has presented The World at One on BBC Radio Four and previously appeared on regular cover shifts on the rolling news channel BBC News 24.Hanrahan was educated at the St Ignatius' College in Stamford...
.
- Rosie May (Rebecca Front
Rebecca Front is an English comedienne and actress, perhaps best known for her performances in a series of critically-acclaimed satirical comedies in the early 1990s: On The Hour, The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You...with Alan Partridge...
) - Environmental correspondent. The bearded Rosie May presents the "Enviromation" slot. Her stories are always bizarre, including; the skyThe sky is the part of the atmosphere or of outer space visible from the surface of any astronomical object. It is difficult to define precisely for several reasons. During daylight, the sky of Earth has the appearance of a deep blue surface because of the air's scattering of sunlight. The sky is...
detaching from the horizonThe horizon is the apparent line that separates earth from sky.It is the line that divides all visible directions into two categories: those that intersect the Earth's surface, and those that do not...
; a mobile cemeteryA cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term cemetery implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are the place where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
; a ban on waveA wave is a disturbance that propagates through space and time, usually with transference of energy. A mechanical wave is a wave that propagates or travels through a medium due to the restoring forces it produces upon deformation. There also exist waves capable of traveling through a vacuum,...
hunting; and a refrigeratorA refrigerator is a cooling appliance comprising a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump—chemical or mechanical means—to transfer heat from it to the external environment, cooling the contents to a temperature below ambient. Refrigerators are extensively used to store foods which spoil...
powered by earthwormEarthworm is the common name for the largest members of Oligochaeta in the phylum Annelida. In classical systems they were placed in the order Opisthopora, on the basis of the male pores opening posterior to the female pores, even though the internal male segments are anterior to the female...
s. Her segments always end with a new-age style epigram, such as "Tread not on the forest leaves, for you tread on my face". Rosie never interacts with other members of the news team.
- Jacques-"Jacques" Liverot (Patrick Marber
Patrick Albert Crispin Marber is an English comedian, playwright, director, actor and screenwriter.-Early years:Marber was born in London, England, the son of a financial analyst, and was raised in Wimbledon...
) - Resident French commentator. Always depicted as a stereotypical postmodernist philosopher, eternally smoking alone in a dark and gloomy corner of the studio, Jacques will comment on the news throughout the programme, using a series of pseudo-existentialist bons mots. Contributes little to the programme apart from bizarre rhetorical questionA rhetorical question is a figure of speech in the form of a question posed for its persuasive effect without the expectation of a reply Rhetorical questions encourage the listener to think about what the answer to the question must be. When a speaker states, "How much longer must our people...
s, such as "If we could see politicsPolitics is a process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic and religious institutions...
, what would it look like?" and utterly irrelevant statements, such as "An old man stands naked in front of a mirror, eating soup. He is a fool."
- Valerie Sinatra (Rebecca Front
Rebecca Front is an English comedienne and actress, perhaps best known for her performances in a series of critically-acclaimed satirical comedies in the early 1990s: On The Hour, The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You...with Alan Partridge...
) - Travel correspondent. Valerie works in The Day Today travel pod, perched at the top of a tower looming a full mile above the centre of Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
. The traffic reports cover strange traffic accidents, such as a piece of pie blocking the road and coverage of an ongoing crash that has been in progress south of Newcastle-upon-Tyne for several weeks; police marksmen to shoot speeding drivers in the chin; as well as general traffic reports including a claim that workers have finished cobbling the M25The M25 motorway is a 117 mile orbital motorway which encircles Greater London, United Kingdom except for the tolled Dartford Crossing where it crosses the River Thames to the east of London...
. Valerie is the object of Chris' unrequited desire, and Chris frequently makes a fool of himself on-air in a desperate effort to flirt with Valerie.
- Brant (David Schneider
David Schneider is an English actor and comedian.Schneider studied modern languages at the University of Oxford, and studied for a DPhil in Yiddish Drama. During his time at university, Schneider performed a predominantly physical comedy act that contrasted with the trend towards stand-up comedy...
) - The physical cartoonistA cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. Traditionally much of this work was, and still is, humorous, and is intended primarily for entertainment purposes...
from The Daily TelegraphThe Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Colonel Arthur B. Sleigh in June 1855 as the Daily Telegraph and Courier...
. Brant satirisesSatire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods,...
the news using cartoon backgrounds and then acting what is going on in the cartoon itself. His cartoons rely on elaborate physical metaphors which have to be labelled to render them comprehensible; a good example is his cartoon of Britain's handover of Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
, where Chris PattenChristopher Francis Patten, Baron Patten of Barnes, CH, PC is a prominent British Conservative politician and a Patron of the Tory Reform Group....
, "making a monkey of himself", is represented as King (Hong) KongKing Kong is a fictional movie monster that has appeared in several films since 1933. These include the groundbreaking 1933 film King Kong, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, as well as various sequels...
climbing the British Empire State BuildingThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...
, swatting at aeroplanes representing ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
and the handover year, 1997. Brant usually accompanies his cartoons with a strangled wailing noise, and each cartoon ends with his signatureA signature is a handwritten depiction of someone's name, nickname or even a simple "X" that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a signature is a signatory...
. The visual style is rather reminiscent of Nicholas GarlandNicholas Withycombe Garland is a political cartoonist for the Daily Telegraph. He had previously drawn for The New Statesman, The Spectator and The Independent....
, a real Daily Telegraph political cartoonistAn editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary....
, and the cumbersome labelling of political cartoons generally.
- Alan Partridge
Alan Gordon Partridge is a fictional television and radio presenter portrayed by English comedian Steve Coogan and invented by Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Stewart Lee and Richard Herring for the BBC Radio 4 programme On The Hour...
(Steve CooganStephen John "Steve" Coogan is an English comedian, actor, writer and producer. His best known character in the United Kingdom is Alan Partridge, the grotesque sports reporter-turned-television chat show host-turned-regional radio presenter who featured in several television series, such as The...
) - Sports correspondent. Alan is an old-school lower-middle-class ToryThe Conservative and Unionist Party, more commonly known as the Conservatives, the Conservative Party, or Tory Party is a conservative political party in the United Kingdom...
who will often say the worst thing at the worst possible time. He has absolutely no knowledge of the sports he is covering, and frequently makes critical errors on-air which reveal his utter lack of knowledge of the subjects of his reports. However, Alan is usually able to bluff his way through by using complex metaphors, endless clichés and rambling off-topic digressions. Alan's coverage of the 1994 World Cup is particularly cringeworthy, while his attempts to report on horse-racing highlight his immense incompetence. Alan always ends his reports with the words "I'm Alan Partridge, join me", accompanied by Alan staring into the camera. Alan shares an unusual relationship with Morris; in one episode, Alan's sports reports are interrupted thrice by Morris; in another, Morris openly humiliates Alan on-air, and by the end of the series, Chris Morris' character appears to have developed a bizarre and unreciprocated homoerotic affection for Alan. The character would go on to star in two spin-off series, Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan PartridgeKnowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge is a British comedy show first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as a six-episode series, which subsequently transferred to BBC Television with a series of six episodes , and a Christmas special in...
and I'm Alan PartridgeI'm Alan Partridge is a BBC situation comedy starring Steve Coogan of which two series of six episodes were produced, the first in 1997 and the second in 2002....
.
- Ted Maul (Chris Morris
Image:the_it_crowd_denholm.jpg|Chris Morris in The IT CrowdChristopher Morris is an English comedian, writer, director, actor and former radio DJ.Morris began his career in radio before moving into television...
) - The roving reporter who later appears in Brass EyeBrass Eye is a UK television series of satirical spoof documentaries. A single series of six episodes aired on Channel 4 in 1997, with a further special episode in 2001....
, made his first appearance here as a moustachioed veteran who speaks in an overblown, aggressive way and makes big stories from other people's suffering. Memorable news reports from Ted include a report on cannibalismCannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other humans.The word can be extended into zoology to mean any species consuming members of its own kind, and used outside of biological fields in a metaphorical sense: "Cannibalization" refers to the reuse of parts or ideas, such as...
in the police force, and a long-running report covering commuters trapped on a train, who turn to paganismPaganism is a word with several different meanings.In its broadest definition, pagan denotes all non-Abrahamic religions, that is to say it denotes all religions other than Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.Other usages are:*Paganism may mean Polytheism: The group so defined includes most of the...
during their wait on the line.
DVD bonus material
The DVD features extensive bonus material including short mini-episodes featuring original material which were broadcast the night before the original broadcast of each episode, the original pilot episode, and an
Open UniversityThe Open University is the distance learning university founded and funded by the UK Government. It is notable for having an open entry policy, i.e. students' previous academic achievements are not taken into account for entry to most undergraduate courses...
programme about news presentation which includes an analysis of how and why parodies such as
The Day Today work.
The DVD also includes several "Easter eggs" including: a version of a
State of the Union AddressThe State of the Union is an annual address presented before by the President of the United States to the United States Congress. The address not only reports on the condition of the nation but also allows the president to outline his legislative agenda and national priorities to Congress...
by
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
, edited to make
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
policy seem insanely belligerent; a new audio discussion between Morris and Alan Partridge discussing Partridge's bizarre theories of how
Diana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of Wales, was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. Their sons, Princes William and Harry, are second and third in line to the thrones of the United Kingdom and fifteen other Commonwealth Realms.A public figure from the announcement of her engagement to Prince Charles, Diana...
, and
John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
died; a further discussion between Morris and Partridge about the environment; a re-union of Morris, Partridge, Brant, Peter O'Hanraha-hanrahan, Collaterlie Sisters and Valerie Sinatra; and another audio sketch featuring Peter O'Hanraha-hanrahan pretending to file a report from the
World Trade CenterThe World Trade Center was a complex in Lower Manhattan in New York City whose seven buildings were destroyed in 2001 in the September 11 terrorist attacks...
covering up the fact that he had overslept, while blithely unaware that the
September 11, 2001 attacksThe September 11 attacks were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by Al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners...
have just taken place. Pressing the Angle button during Episode 3 unveils brief, intermittent visual descriptions of the episode by
Andy HodgsonAndrew Patrick Hodgson is primarily known as an auctioneer/presenter on the British television shopping channel bid tv.- bid tv :Andy Hodgson can be seen presenting bid tv on Sunday between 4.30pm and 7.30pm, and Monday and Tuesday between 7.30pm and 10.30pm. He has presented on the channel since...
and Jennifer Reinfrank, whilst a half-hour interview with
Steve CooganStephen John "Steve" Coogan is an English comedian, actor, writer and producer. His best known character in the United Kingdom is Alan Partridge, the grotesque sports reporter-turned-television chat show host-turned-regional radio presenter who featured in several television series, such as The...
, conducted by
Mark RadcliffeMark Radcliffe is an English broadcaster who has worked in various roles for the BBC since the 1980s and remains one of Britain's most recognised DJs...
on the January 17, 1994 edition of his
radioMark and Lard, the stage name of Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley , are former BBC Radio 1 disc jockeys. Mark and Lard joined Radio 1 in October 1993 and left in March 2004...
show, can be accessed through the Extended Scenes menu.
Cast and crew
- Chris Morris
Image:the_it_crowd_denholm.jpg|Chris Morris in The IT CrowdChristopher Morris is an English comedian, writer, director, actor and former radio DJ.Morris began his career in radio before moving into television...
- Chris Morris, Ted Maul, other roles
- Steve Coogan
Stephen John "Steve" Coogan is an English comedian, actor, writer and producer. His best known character in the United Kingdom is Alan Partridge, the grotesque sports reporter-turned-television chat show host-turned-regional radio presenter who featured in several television series, such as The...
- Alan PartridgeAlan Gordon Partridge is a fictional television and radio presenter portrayed by English comedian Steve Coogan and invented by Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Stewart Lee and Richard Herring for the BBC Radio 4 programme On The Hour...
, other roles
- Rebecca Front
Rebecca Front is an English comedienne and actress, perhaps best known for her performances in a series of critically-acclaimed satirical comedies in the early 1990s: On The Hour, The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You...with Alan Partridge...
- Barbara Wintergreen, Rosie May, Valerie Sinatra, other roles
- Doon Mackichan
Doon Mackichan is an English comedienne and actress.-Biography:Aged 9, she moved with her family to Upper Largo, Fife...
- Collaterlie Sisters, other roles
- Patrick Marber
Patrick Albert Crispin Marber is an English comedian, playwright, director, actor and screenwriter.-Early years:Marber was born in London, England, the son of a financial analyst, and was raised in Wimbledon...
- Peter O'Hanraha-hanrahan, Jacques "Jaques" Liverot, Chapman Baxter, other roles
- David Schneider
David Schneider is an English actor and comedian.Schneider studied modern languages at the University of Oxford, and studied for a DPhil in Yiddish Drama. During his time at university, Schneider performed a predominantly physical comedy act that contrasted with the trend towards stand-up comedy...
- Sylvester Stewart, Brant, other roles
- Michael Alexander St John - Voiceover
The Day Today also features appearances by
Armando IannucciArmando Giovanni Iannucci is a Scottish comedian, writer, director, performer and radio producer.- Early life :...
,
Peter BaynhamPeter Baynham is an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and a British comedian, writer, and performer. He often collaborates with Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris and has worked with Stewart Lee and Richard Herring. He is first heard on Morris' early radio DJ slots, often going out to places...
, Jean Ainslie, John Thomson,
Graham LinehanGraham Linehan is an Irish television writer, actor and director who, often in partnership with Arthur Mathews, has written or co-written a number of popular television comedies...
, Alan Stocks and
Minnie DriverMinnie Driver is an English actress and singer-songwriter. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting.-Early life:...
- Devisers - Chris Morris
Image:the_it_crowd_denholm.jpg|Chris Morris in The IT CrowdChristopher Morris is an English comedian, writer, director, actor and former radio DJ.Morris began his career in radio before moving into television...
and Armando IannucciArmando Giovanni Iannucci is a Scottish comedian, writer, director, performer and radio producer.- Early life :...
- Writers - Chris Morris
Image:the_it_crowd_denholm.jpg|Chris Morris in The IT CrowdChristopher Morris is an English comedian, writer, director, actor and former radio DJ.Morris began his career in radio before moving into television...
, Armando IannucciArmando Giovanni Iannucci is a Scottish comedian, writer, director, performer and radio producer.- Early life :...
, Peter BaynhamPeter Baynham is an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and a British comedian, writer, and performer. He often collaborates with Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris and has worked with Stewart Lee and Richard Herring. He is first heard on Morris' early radio DJ slots, often going out to places...
, The Cast
- Additional Material - Andrew Glover
Andrew Glover is a composer and a British National Party member, born in Birmingham, UK. He studied in Nottingham and gained his Doctorate in 1994 from Keele University after studying with Dr George Nicholson...
, Steven WellsSteven Wells was a British journalist and author, born in Swindon, Wiltshire. He is best remembered for ranting poetry and his provocative, unapologetic music journalism. He died of enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma on 24 June 2009 in Philadelphia.In June 2006, he wrote in the Philadelphia...
& David QuantickDavid Quantick is a freelance journalist, writer and critic who specialises in music and comedy.-Career history:...
, Graham LinehanGraham Linehan is an Irish television writer, actor and director who, often in partnership with Arthur Mathews, has written or co-written a number of popular television comedies...
& Arthur MathewsArthur Mathews is an Irish comedy writer and actor who, often with writing partner Graham Linehan, has either written or contributed to a number of popular television comedies, most notably Father Ted. He is a graduate of the Dublin Institute of Technology...
- Co-Producer - Chris Morris
Image:the_it_crowd_denholm.jpg|Chris Morris in The IT CrowdChristopher Morris is an English comedian, writer, director, actor and former radio DJ.Morris began his career in radio before moving into television...
- Director - Andrew Gillman
- Producer - Armando Iannucci
Armando Giovanni Iannucci is a Scottish comedian, writer, director, performer and radio producer.- Early life :...
- Music - Jonathan Whitehead
Jonathan Whitehead is an award winning music composer, originally from Lancashire, who is most noted for writing music for television comedies such as The Day Today, Brass Eye, Black Books, Green Wing and Nathan Barley. He studied music at the University of Bristol and now lives in London. He is...
, Chris MorrisImage:the_it_crowd_denholm.jpg|Chris Morris in The IT CrowdChristopher Morris is an English comedian, writer, director, actor and former radio DJ.Morris began his career in radio before moving into television...
Episode listing
1.
"Main News Attack" (19 January 1994)
- Features reports on Prince Charles volunteering to go to prison, the London
[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
Jam Festival, bullying in the Church of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the oldest among the communion's thirty-eight independent national and regional churches...
, medieval alternative medicineIn Western culture, alternative medicine is any healing practice "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine", or "that which has been shown consistently to be effective." Alternative medicine is often based on the belief that a particular health regimen has efficacious effects...
, and a sheepdog piloting an out of control helicopterA helicopter is an aircraft that is lifted and propelled by one or more horizontal rotors, each rotor consisting of two or more rotor blades. Helicopters are classified as rotorcraft or rotary-wing aircraft to distinguish them from fixed-wing aircraft because the helicopter achieves lift with the...
. Also features Barbara Wintergreen's report on the Elvis styled execution of American serial killerA serial killer is a person who murders three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a "cooling off" period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification. Often, a sexual element is involved with the killings...
Chapman Baxter, and Alan Partridge covering the Tour de FranceThe Tour de France is an annual bicycle race that covers approximately throughout France and bordering countries. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages. Individual times to finish each stage are totalled to...
and BoxingBoxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds. There are three ways to win...
.
2.
"The Big Report" (26 January 1994)
- Features reports on the Junior Minister
Junior ministers are usually ministers of below cabinet rank, such as Ministers of State and Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State in the UK...
for health resigning, Marlon BrandoMarlon Brando, Jr. was an American actor whose body of work spanned over half a century. He was named the fourth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute, and part of Time magazine's Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century He is widely considered one of the...
being sold at auction in Sotheby'sSotheby's is the world's third oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674 and the second oldest is Uppsala Auktionskammare founded in 1731, both Swedish...
, illegal back street dentists, and Peter O'Hanraha-hanrahan reporting on the new European trade quota rates. Also features The Pool, a documentary set in a public swimming poolA leisure centre in the UK and Canada is a purpose built building or site, usually owned and operated by the borough council or district council, where people go to keep fit or relax through using the facilities.- Typical Facilities :...
, a segment from RokTV, and Alan Partridge covering the horse racing at MarpleMarple may refer to:As a place:* Marple, Greater Manchester, in England* Marple Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, in the United StatesAs a surname:* Stan Marple, a Canadian ice hockey player and coachIn fiction:...
.
3.
"Meganews" (2 February 1994)
- Features reports on an infestation of wild horses in the London underground
The London Underground, Underground or Tube is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and neighbouring areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire in the UK. The first section opened in 1863, and was the first underground railway system in the world, and, starting in...
, the BBC's new soap operaA soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The name "soap opera" stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble,...
The Bureau (replacing the Nine O'Clock NewsThe BBC Nine O'Clock News was the flagship BBC News programme launched on 14 September 1970, which ran until 15 October 2000, when it was controversially moved to BBC News at Ten....
), a fight between Queen Elizabeth and John MajorSir John Major, KG, CH, ACIB , is a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and former Leader of the Conservative Party. He held these posts from 1990 to 1997....
, and an air jam. Also features Barbara Wintergreen's report on Chapman Baxter being executed via marriage, a continuation of The Pool, and Alan Partridge interviewing soccer players and a female show jumperShow jumping, also known as "stadium jumping" or "jumpers," is a member of a family of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics...
.
4.
"Stretchcast" (9 February 1994)
- Features reports on suspicions that British police
A police service is a public force empowered to enforce the law and provide security through the legitimized use of force.The term is most commonly associated with police services of a state that are authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined legal or territorial area of...
officers are eating their suspects, Peter O'Hanraha-hanrahan interviewing the government ministerA minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet.-Origin:...
for ships regarding recent accusations, the IRA'sThe Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation which sought to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
use of explosives hidden in dogs, the immense popularity of The Bureau in ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
, the Home OfficeThe Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security and order. As such it is responsible for the police, United Kingdom Borders Agency and MI5. It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs, counter-terrorism...
releasing the Sorted videos aimed at young people, and near-death experiences. Also features Barbara Wintergreen reporting on the natus (a method of prosthetic pregnancy), and Alan Partridge's Countdown to World CupThe FIFA World Cup, occasionally called the Football World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
'94.
5.
"Magnifivent" (16 February 1994)
- Features reports on the British Pound being stolen, the plummeting ratings of The Bureau, the clamping
A wheel clamp is a device that is designed to prevent vehicles from moving. In its most common form, it consists of a clamp which surrounds a vehicle wheel and is designed to prevent removal of both itself and the wheel...
of the homeless in London, a reminiscence of events in 1944, government ministers contracting a disease that inhibits reading, and the trade agreementA trade pact is a wide ranging tax, tariff and trade pact that often includes investment guarantees. Trade pacts are frequently politically contentious since they may change economic customs and deepen interdependence with trade partners. Increasing efficiency through "free trade" is a common goal...
and subsequent war between AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
and Hong KongHong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a highly autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China, facing Guangdong to the north and the South China Sea to the east, west and south...
. Also features Barbara Wintergreen reporting on Chapman Baxter being executed by the reanimated corpse of his last victim, and Alan Partridge riding with a female rallyRallying is a form of motor competition that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars. This motorsport is distinguished by running not on a circuit, but instead in a point-to-point format in which participants and their co-drivers drive...
driver.
6.
"Newsatrolysis" a.k.a. "Factgasm" (23 February 1994)
- Features reports on Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
cullingCulling is the process of removing animals from a group based on specific criteria. This is done in order to either reinforce certain desirable characteristics or to remove certain undesirable characteristics from the group...
40 members of staff, passengers stuck on a train in HampshireHampshire , sometimes historically Southamptonshire, Hamptonshire, , or the County of Southampton, is a county on the south coast of England. The county borders , Dorset, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
, Peter O'Hanraha-hanrahan reporting on General MotorsGeneral Motors Company, often known as simply GM, is a United States based automaker with headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. GM was the world's 18th largest corporate entity and third largest automaker as ranked by 2008 revenues on the Fortune Global 500. Ranked by global unit sales for 2008, it...
making 35000 (sic) workers redundantLayoff is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or a group of employees for business reasons, such as the decision that certain positions are no longer necessary or a business slow-down or interruption in work...
, Colin Poppshed reporting from the gayHomosexuality is the romantic or sexual attraction or behavior among members of the same sex, situationally or as an enduring disposition. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is considered to lie within the heterosexual-homosexual continuum of human sexuality, and refers to an individual’s...
desk, the decline of the NHSThe National Health Service is the name commonly used to refer to the publicly-funded health care services in Great Britain. In England the name National Health Service is used without further qualification whereas the services in Scotland and Wales are known as NHS Scotland and NHS Wales...
, and a roundup of international news. Also features a documentary set at the office of a pharmaceutical company, and Alan Partridge covering self-defence.
External links
Comedy Guide